Aliens

Alien Punisher

Created by lightning9160

Alien Swarmer

Created by lightning9160

Description

Aliens are AI ships, similar to Pirates, that attack any Ship/Starbase (except the Mega Base) in sight. They can even attack Pirates. Generally, Aliens will lock on to any ship or base that is at least 9,000 to 11,000 studs away from them.

They spawn in groups of 3-5 at random locations on the map. Each spawn has an 8% chance of being an Alien Punisher.

Occasionally, what some players call an "Alien Fleet" will spawn. This is effectively a massive group of Swarmers led by at least one Punisher, but often more. Past fleets have amassed over 300 ships.

Recent updates have limited the amount of Alien ships that can spawn in one server, but they can still build up considerable groups with enough firepower to destroy even the strongest Starbases.

Alien Swarmer

The AlienSwarmer is the Alien equivalent of a Frigate and is known for annoying Miners and Freighters. It is mostly black with small neon areas and has a bottom-mounted turret.

Behavior

Swarmers will attempt to stay around 3 to 3.5K studs away from whatever they are attacking and may move below ships to maintain their turret's line of sight. When attacking a slow or stationary target, they are often seen moving back and forth in mostly straight lines. Have a tendency to go underneath ships to make it hard for main turrets to hit.

Alien Punisher

The Alien Punisher fits between the player ship classifications of Battleship and Dreadnought. It has considerable health and firepower and is almost never seen alone. It poses a significant threat to undefended ships, Starbases, and inexperienced players. It too is mostly black with a few areas highlighted in neon green.

Behavior

Much like the Swarmer, Punishers will maneuver to a range of 3 to 5K studs away from their targets and will move back and forth along that range. They may also attempt to outspeed attacking ships to stay out of player turret range. Additionally, Punishers initiating an attack will "call" all other Swarmers and Punishers in the server to their location, creating incredibly powerful fleets. The only warning to these gatherings is a small period of time in which all Alien ships will turn towards the attacking Punisher, which can be seen on the Minimap. In version .58a, the Punisher AI received an update that causes them to chase down crippled attacking ships with less than 30% health remaining.

Known Stats:

Despite their rather low chance of spawning, Punishers are not that rare a sight. Attack these with caution; use either a Dreadnought or a fleet of Battleships and/or Battlecruisers. It is also helpful to lure Punishers closer to armed bases to deal even more damage. Skilled players have been able to solo them without Starbase help using battleships. Some extremely skilled players can solo them with help Starbase firepower in only a Battlecruiser or Cruiser.

Planet Capturing

Alien can capture and assimilate Planets just like player factions. Once a planet is captured, it can serve as a spawnpoint for new Alien ships, making the planet a dangerous place to go. Aliens may also hover nearby the planet to defend it from player ships, making it difficult to take it back.

If the planet is defended by Aliens and/or upgraded, a single Dreadnought is often not enough to take it back. It may take more than one faction's limit of Dreadnoughts and multiple sieges to take back a heavily defended planet.

Once a planet is taken back, Aliens will begin to "panic", scattering to different locations before returning to normal behavior.